A wood engraving, late 19th century, titled at bottom center "The Yosemite Valley, California", the image a breathtaking panorama of the waterfalls and sheer cliffs of the world-renowned natural wonder, set off by foreground trees and rocky ledges. Although the vintage print is perhaps not an actual Harper's Weekly work, it is in that vein and style. Not examined out of the frame, which is an attractive dark distressed burl wood or quality wood simulation...

Pastel on paper on board, of grapes and an apple on the ground, 11 7/8" by 9 3/4" and a simple narrow frame, unsigned, but very likely by noted mid 19th century American artist JOHN S. BOWER, known today primarily for his very distinctive studies of fruit in a landscape. See my shop for several other works by this artist, some of which are signed. A number of works by him have passed through the Skinner auction house in Boston over the years, placed in Americana and folk art sales...

Oil on canvas painting, unframed, 24" by 18", titled on stretcher in artist's hand "TAKING IN THE SIGHTS ON ROMANTIC CHURCH STREET, CHARLESTON", and signed at lower left by the late San Diego county artist and poet NATALIE REED. Reed was a familiar name in the arts community in the San Diego area, creating paintings and sculptures and even murals in large scale for public buildings, including a work for the Federal Building in downtown San Francisco...

A watercolor on paper of a castle on the water with a boat and three women walking on the shingle in the foreground, a row boat on the water and the castle in the distance against the sky. John Varley (1778-1842) was an English watercolorist who painted a large quantity of small watercolors including other versions of Conway castle. There are numerous other watercolors that are attributed to him, but probably not by him...

Watercolor and ink drawing of a stone house adjacent to a dirt road on which a horse is pulling a buggy, a split rail fence, trees and a cow completing this bucolic scene of times gone by, the art in an oval, vignette style, the painted area 5" by 6 1/2", 13 1/2" by 15" in modern framing, possibly signed at lower left but definitely dated there either 32 or 34. This is a very, very early drawing...

A quite old pencil drawing on thin card, 8 1/2" by 5 1/2" inside the mat, 13" by 10 1/4" framed (no glass), apparently by a "Grandmother Stevenson" according to a notation on the reverse side of framing materials...

Etching on paper, 11 3/4" by 13 1/2" as simply framed, the scene silhouetted ships in the harbor, the rising sun and new day ahead suggested by etched lines in the sky, pencil titled at margin "Dawn Portland Harbor" and signed at lower right and dated there 1915. The artist, Massachusetts-born PHILIP LITTLE (1857-1942) was a highly regarded impressionist American painter and etcher, an artist who had a truly American vision as he was not educated in Europe...

A very finished, beautifully executed pastel of a middle-aged lady, she nicely coiffed and elegant in appearance, the work signed at lower right "CARLES". I have researched the work, (including contacting an acknowledged expert on well-known Pennsylvania artist Arthur Carles Jr. 1882-1952) and she does not feel it has the characteristics to enable it to be called the work of that noted American painter. It is offered as a nicely executed portrait drawing...

Original gouache on paper painting "Water Bearer - Michoacan" by listed California artist JACK DUDLEY (1918-1996). Dudley was a familiar sight around the Laguna Beach area for nearly 40 years, exhibiting at the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts. He studied under California art luminaries Lorser Feitelson, Barse Miller, Edward Biberman and Edward Reep. Dudley is known for his landscapes, works featuring architecture, genre of the Southwest, Mexico and Latin America, and wildlife...

Gouache and watercolor on paper landscape titled on reverse "Arab Village Near Jerusalem", measuring 14 5/8" by 19 3/4" (26" by 29" as framed), signed at lower right "WM. D. RAFFEL" and dated 1954. This is a beautifully executed work in fine condition save for a cracked (but not detached) upper left corner due to brittleness likely caused by aging...

Watercolor and gouache on paper, 4 1/2" by 12 1/4", (10" by 17 3/4" in modern framing), apparently unsigned, but I believe likely by a member of the talented and prolific GIANNI Italian painter family. There are a number of painters going under the name "Gianni", possibly from the same family. Many works of such southern Italian scenes are signed M. Gianni, others Y. Gianni...

Crayon on paper drawing of red tulips in a glass vase, 14 3/4" by 10 3/4" (18 1/2" by 14" in simple wood strip frame), signed at lower right with monogram or conjoined initials, and dated there 4-5-83. Something about the work reminds of David Hockney, but this artist is unidentified. I believe it is of European origin but cannot be certain of that. There is some writing in pencil on the reverse, possibly in a foreign language, but it is hard to decipher...

A modern unsigned painting, likely acrylic, the complex surface obviously worked and re-worked and built up by the artist----the piece, unframed, weighs nearly 9 pounds; that is a lot of paint. The measurements are 30" by 24". Despite the thickness of the paint, that paint appears to be stable. The generally monochromatic colors, bluish-gray/black, reminding of volcanic cindery glass, with other color showing through, should work well in a number of contemporary settings. Could have some age...

Etching on paper, 5 1/4" by 6 3/4" (10 1/4" by 14 3/8" as framed), the subject the old downtown of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England, including a church and medieval buildings, by the important American printmaker JOHN TAYLOR ARMS JR. (1887-1953). Arms was one of the best known and most highly respected American printmakers of the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Washington D.C., he studied architecture at Princeton and MIT and decided to become an architect, but by his early ...

Serigraph (silkscreen) print after a painting by the giant of modern art, GEORGES BRAQUE (1882-1963), 9 3/4" by 32" (an impressive 18 1/4" by 41" framed), signed in the print at lower left and dated there 1920. The title, "The Blue Plums", appears in the wide margin below the mat. Braque needs little introduction, as one of the famous names of modern art who in the early years of the century developed, along with his friend Picasso, the Cubism movement, which changed the art world forever. Th...

Lithograph, 14" by 21" inside the mat, signed in the stone at lower right, from an unknown edition possibly of about 5,000 examples, the title "Ma de Proverbis", 1970. This is extremely clean and fresh with bright colors not having suffered any fading from light exposure. The piece is accompanied by a bright green mat and simple black metal frame of the period. Allow for reflections in glass.

This is an antique photograph of earlier days on Charlotte Street, in the very historic town of Saint Augustine, Florida (which dates to 1565). For a long time I suspected this was Saint Augustine but recently I saw another example of this photograph, and in the margin it was titled "Charlotte Street, Saint Augustine". Charlotte Street is a block in from the ocean front road, in the old center of the town. Today it is squarely in the tourist zone, with T-shirt shops, fudge purveyors, and inti...

A painting of the famous Andes mountain and lake resort of Bariloche in central Argentina, oil on canvas, 22" by 29", unframed, signed "MA" at lower right and "M. C. Alsina" on stretcher, circa 1960. The work is dusty and could benefit from a cleaning to remove foxing in the sky, and has some paint losses that can be easily restored (scratch at left and lower extreme corner). The deep blue of the sky against the gray of the mountains and lake makes for an elegant and satisfying color pairing. ...